A Big Thank You

Like many people, I like to use the last day of the year to spend time reflecting on the events of the past twelve months and think about my hopes for the year to come.  2020 has no doubt been a year for more reflection than ever when covid has obliterated our sense of familiarity and security.  And today I find that my mind is taken up with many thoughts of my career journey so far and where I am going to take myself in the future.

I have never been someone to claim that teaching is the hardest job in the world.  There is no doubt that it has its challenges but on the whole, my last decade of teaching was pretty special with highs that far outweighed the lows. However after some time away, (I’m now approaching the end of my fourth month out of teaching) I can see, with some perspective, how exhausting it actually was.  Even with the respite that was provided by my last six months of teaching from home hence being saved from the 24 District Line stop one way commute, distance has clarified a lot for me.  But what’s going on in schools in the current covid climate since they returned to in person teaching in September makes previous levels of stress seem like a walk in the park.  Speaking to my friends who are still in the classroom, it is abundantly clear how taxing the last term has been.

Navigating the difficulties of keeping to student bubbles, managing staff sickness and the knock on effect that it has on workload, recurrent periods of isolation as the virus inevitably spreads.  My friend and ex colleague was entering her third 14 day isolation period of the term, just  days before she broke up for the much needed Christmas break as a student in her class had tested positive.  And let’s not forget the constant daily battles faced with the young people about adhering to covid safety guidelines.  It appears that on the whole, the attitude taken by many young people in the UK is largely one of distrust.  It would seem that many of them have, unsurprisingly, lost faith in the government and when you pair that with the scepticism and conspiracy theories flying around I can only imagine what a tiring time it must be, especially when all of these things are placed against an already heavy workload.  And the pressure appears to be getting to even the best of students.  I nearly fell off my chair when I found myself on my old school account reading an email notifying all staff that three of the most compliant students from my old class had been temporarily excluded for “refusing to adhere to covid safety guidance”, (loosely translated, they repeatedly refused to wear their masks).

Yesterday afternoon the education secretary Gavin Williamson announced that return to school after the Christmas break for secondary pupils will be delayed, the earliest return set for the 11th of January with the majority of students returning on the 18th.  After an already turbulent start to the year I imagine that many teachers will have received this news with a heavy heart, by now, I’m sure, craving normalcy more than ever.  Or maybe some will be pleased to hear the news, happy to welcome a little longer out of the classroom at this strange and difficult time.  And who could blame them?

There are conflicted views, it seems when it comes to the issues of schools at this uncertain time.  Some unions are campaigning for closures during lockdowns and in high tier areas whilst many believe that young people remaining in school should be the biggest of priorities for wellbeing and development.  It is certainly not an easy puzzle to solve but one thing we can all recognise is that now, more than ever, teachers need one very big virtual hug for all of the amazing effort and hard work that they are putting in.  I loved my job with my whole heart but I can say confidently that whilst I miss the memory of how it was whilst I was there, no part of me wishes that I was still teaching and dealing with the enormous stresses that are now a normal part of everyday school life.

So this is a post to celebrate and thank all of the incredible teachers up and down the country who are battling a million other challenges on top of the already exhausting job.  So if you have a teacher in your life, spare them a thought, reach out to them and let them know that you are thinking of them.